


good men

by Poe



Series: Drabbles [9]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Witcher (TV)
Genre: (or Witcher retirement), Alternate Universe - The Witcher Fusion, Bucky has one arm but he's cool with it, Communication, Crossover, Happy Ending, He does not pay me to say that though it'd be neat if he did, M/M, Mentions of Past Dysphoria, One sentence mentions sex, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Retirement, Trans Bucky Barnes, Trans Feelings™, Trans Steve Rogers, We could head to the coast..., Witcher Bucky Barnes, Witcher Steve Rogers, With art! by the most amazing jaybrogers whomst I love most dearly, nonbinary author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:42:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29085576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poe/pseuds/Poe
Summary: "I heard there was a one-armed Witcher in town."Bucky smirked at the voice, recognising its owner, but made no effort to acknowledge it. Instead, Steve slumped down in the seat opposite him, smile wide on his face, crooked up slightly by the scar that ran from his temple, through his eye, fogging it white, and down through his lip to his chin."The bards," Bucky said, and allowed himself to smile too.Steve nodded."They love a good hero. Especially one with such a tragic backstory." Steve said the last two words with dripping irony. "I see it hasn't grown back.""You're an arsehole," Bucky said and kicked Steve under the table. Steve gripped Bucky's foot tight between his own."You missed me," Steve said simply.*(or: the one where the boys are both witchers, and in the end, they're still Bucky and Steve)
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Drabbles [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/630734
Comments: 24
Kudos: 75





	good men

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ACometAppears](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACometAppears/gifts).



> You'll probably have needed to watch The Witcher to read this, but your mileage may vary! 
> 
> Beta'd by the beautiful and talented @eusuntgratie (tumblr) with art by the absolutely magnificent @jaybrogers (tumblr). Really I did the least work here by far.

"I heard there was a one-armed Witcher in town."

Bucky smirked at the voice, recognising its owner, but made no effort to acknowledge it. Instead, Steve slumped down in the seat opposite him, smile wide on his face, crooked up slightly by the scar that ran from his temple, through his eye, fogging it white, and down through his lip to his chin.

"The bards," Bucky said, and allowed himself to smile too.

Steve nodded.

"They love a good hero. Especially one with such a tragic backstory." Steve said the last two words with dripping irony. "I see it hasn't grown back."

"You're an arsehole," Bucky said and kicked Steve under the table. Steve gripped Bucky's foot tight between his own.

"You missed me," Steve said simply.

"Always," Bucky replied, and downed the dregs of his ale.

"You got a room here?" Steve asked, and Bucky had heard that Witchers can't blush, but Steve, he still pinks up every time.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah. Payment for a job well done."

"Normally I'd argue you that, but right now I need you and a bed and a locked door," Steve said, already getting to his feet again.

"You were always so impatient," Bucky said, but stood too, and Steve's hand reached across the table to lace their fingers together.

"Only for you," Steve said, then shook his head. "Well, mostly. Anyway, I have plans for you. Why are you still talking?"

So Bucky stopped talking, and led Steve to his room, the same game they'd played for decades.

***

After Steve had come twice around Bucky's fingers, and after Bucky could kiss Steve and taste himself on Steve's tongue, they settled slightly, Steve's nervous energy dissipated a little in the afterglow.

Bucky ran a finger across one of the scars on Steve's chest, faded almost entirely to white now.

"Remember how you used to chase mages across the continent, until half of them wanted to kill you and the other half wanted to marry you?" Bucky asked and Steve smiled.

"Thought they might know a better way," Steve replied. "Maybe they do. But not for us. Mutant freaks with no sacrifice left to give. No magical transformation."

"I like you. I like this. Don't think I could change you now. Change me, even."

Steve ran his own finger across the matching scars on Bucky's chest.

"Would have been easier," he said simply.

"When have our lives been about easy?" Bucky asked in return.

Steve leaned up to kiss the strands of white hair that tufted together close to Bucky's forehead. Not side effects of the mutations, but something Bucky had been born with. His ma, long since buried and dust, had said he was kissed by the gods. He disagreed, now, having lived for so long and walked the Path for so many of those years, but when Steve coiled the coarse strands around his fingers, he could almost believe he was meant to end up here.

"Your hair's longer," Steve said.

Bucky shrugged.

"Less call for monster hunting these days. Figured I could let it grow out a little."

"It suits you," Steve said and nosed against Bucky's cheek, before pressing a kiss to Bucky's lips, soft and tired.

"You look good," Bucky said, "land living suits you."

"No life for a Crane Witcher, but sea serpents just aren't what they used to be. We've got more Witchers than we know what to do with these days, it seems."

"Yeah, feels that way. Gets a man to thinking," Bucky said carefully. Steve pulled back a little, eyebrow raised.

"You're dangerous when you're thinking. Lost you an arm," he said.

"You know that was an arch griffin, you bastard. And I'm still here, aren't I? Don't you keep finding me like a cat after scraps of fish?" Bucky asked and laughed as Steve pouted.

"You're the Cat, remember?" Steve pointed out.

"And yet you wear my medallion," Bucky said, closing his fingers around the cat's head pendant hanging from Steve's neck.

"Sentiment," Steve replied. "Besides, you're wearing mine. Guess we're both fools."

"Guess so."

"So what were you thinking?" Steve asked, propped up on one elbow, other hand splayed across Bucky's chest.

"Paths end. They lead to places, right? They don't go on forever."

"All roads lead to Cintra," Steve quoted.

"Yeah. What about us? What do we do when the Path runs out of monsters to throw at us? What do you want to do? Have you ever considered it?" Bucky asked, and Steve drummed his fingers over Bucky heart lightly before replying.

"I'm not sure what you're asking me. Feels like you're trying to sneak two questions into one."

"At the end of the day, a good man goes to sleep to rest his head, in his home, with the person he loves," Bucky said quietly.

"Is that what we are? Good men? Tired men?" Steve asked thoughtfully.

"I think we've worked fucking hard and that there are people, families, generations alive because of us. That there are songs about us. That the world has turned and made us righteous. Good men. And I'm tired, Steve. I have been for a while. And I'm greedy. I don't want to go months without you anymore. Maybe I'm getting old or maybe I just - maybe I stopped pretending a while ago that what we had was enough. Maybe now I want everything. If you'll give it to me. Maybe I think we both deserve that. Respite. Sanctuary. Peace."

"That's one hell of a speech," Steve said. He tilted his head to one side slightly, and smiled. "I can't say I'm opposed. I can't even say that I've been trying to hide it. A year turned into six months turned into three turned into weeks. I get itchy under my skin without you. I like knowing you're safe. So maybe, maybe we rest. Maybe we settle. Maybe we stop crossing this continent for a while, until new evils raise their heads. Maybe we do that together."

"Maybe or yes?" Bucky asked, because he can hear his heartbeat in his ears, and he knows Steve can feel it through his chest.

"Is this a proposal?" Steve asked and dipped his face to kiss Bucky, just on the edge of filthy, before pulling back.

"Do you remember when you tried to kill me? The first time we met?" Bucky nudged.

"And we spent three days in bed until they kicked us out? I might be old, but I'm taking that one to my grave," Steve nodded.

"It's always been a proposal, then. Decades long and fucked up to all hells, but you had your dagger to my throat and I thought - fuck, this little bastard is it for me. And you were, and keep being."

"Do you love me?" Steve asked, words careful and hanging in the air.

"Like nothing else in this world," Bucky said certainly.

"Okay," Steve said simply. Like it could be that easy.

Maybe it could.

"Okay," Steve repeated. "A house, by the coast. A fence and some chickens. Salt on the breeze and fish for dinner. And I can fall asleep with the man I love. I could live with that."

Bucky pushed himself up to meet Steve's mouth with his own. The kiss is new and old, all at once. Every conversation they've ever had and ever will have. Dozens of years of history and dozens more waiting.

Bucky smiled against Steve's lips. He could feel as Steve smiled in return.

There could be more. And there would be. And that felt like something Bucky could live with, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This fic feels like I should have a supervillain monologue about it being inevitable, because... kinda. 
> 
> Check out Jay's art at jaybrogers.tumblr.com and if you're not commissioning him what are you even doing with your life? I have questions. Also, if you liked the art here, throw him a ko-fi. ;) I'd love ya for it.
> 
> You can find me at jbbarnes.tumblr.com if you want a mix of Bucky, The Witcher, Teen Wolf and a weird amount of Hannibal actually.
> 
> All comments and kudos are welcome and loved! No comment is too short or too silly! Also please show your love for Jay's art! The fact I cannot marry his Steve is going to haunt me, ya know.
> 
> I hope you're doing all right, times are strange. Stay safe. Take care.


End file.
